Capturing Hearts

Chapter Thirteen

I sighed and lowered to my knees, picking the crying baby up and holding her.
She clasped her tiny arms around my neck and soon fell to silence, sniffling.
Nathan watched me from a distance although he was chatting away with Luke, who knows what about.

We were out in the local park, and I was trying to get Luke's baby sister, Lyra to have some fun and play around. She wasn't very fond of that idea, as every time I set her down, she would start wailing.

Our families were sitting on a bench close by. They seemed to be bonding well, which made me happy, as it meant Nathan could be around more often. I glanced over at him.

He was chuckling at something Luke told him. His hair wasn't as disheveled as usual, and it didn't affect his looks in the slightest way. I found myself admiring his features again, from his tall frame to his strong jawline.

A sharp pain in my collarbone made me snap my eyes away, realizing I was staring. I looked at Lyra who was giggling at me after scratching me painfully with her nail. I scowled at her, but I couldn't be mad at her. She was too adorable.

"Bad girl." I said as she began pulling my hair.

"I can take her for a while, if you want." Nathan asked politely, his hazel eyes twinkling as he looked at Lyra.

I smiled as she jumped towards him immediately. He laughed, carrying her around. Lyra was happily giggling, her little eyes darting around the park filled with greenery and beautiful flowers.

The two of them looked so adorable. Like honestly, too much cuteness to handle.
Lyra put her hands on Nathan's hair and played with it, messing it up completely. He didn't seem to mind.

The cool breeze was blowing lightly, whipping my loose hair around. I inhaled deeply, taking in the pleasant scent of spring flowers and mud. Feeling a presence beside me, I turned to see Luke coming up beside me while playing with his football.

"Lyra's getting along with your boyfriend quite well."

I smiled. "Yeah..."
"Wait, what? No, he's not my boyfriend."

Luke looked at me with that familiar, annoying teasing face. "Sure."

"Dude, no! I didn't really pay attention to what you said." I cleared my throat.

"Sure, that's the case."

"Luke..." I rolled my eyes. This boy could never be convinced... We decided to go to the ice cream stall at the edge of the park. Nathan and Lyra caught up to us.

"Anyway, what happened to that boy you were head over heels for?" Luke asked. That idiot.

"I was NOT head over heels for Evan! He's a jerk."

"You told me you used to dream of being with him all day and- ow!"

I shut Luke up by pulling his blue hair. He looked at me irritatedly, rubbing his head.

"You never let me say anything!"

"Yeah, let him speak, Hanna." Nathan joined in, and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You're kidding, right? All he does is embarrass me!"

"I just speak the truth." Luke stuck his head up.

"I'm over Evan completely, and I'm pretty sure no one cares for a conversation regarding him anymore."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Okay, grumpy."
Now, it was my turn to roll my eyes.

"Should I carry her now? She isn't the lightest baby." I chuckled, directing my question to Nathan.

Before he could answer, Lyra reached towards me and I took her to stop her from falling over.

"She's so cute." Nathan commented, grinning.

Not as cute as you.

"Why doesn't she come to me nowadays? I'm her brother!" Luke complained.

"She probably doesn't recognize you with your new hair." I said, and Nathan laughed.

I slowly set Lyra down on her feet and she began walking with us. Our families walked close behind us, still talking away endlessly and munching on finger food.

Every time Lyra would trip or slow down, Nathan would grab her tiny hand and steady her. All his actions, no matter how normal, appealed to me and he constantly made me feel millions of butterflies in my stomach. His care and attention towards the little baby, the way our shoulders touched occasionally, the way he seemed to lean towards me slightly. His laugh, his smile, his gorgeous eyes. Everything drove me absolutely crazy inside.

I broke from my chain of thoughts and the overwhelming feelings inside me, when Lyra began crying softly. She had her little arms wrapped around Nathan's jean-clad leg.

"Aww..." She was quite fond of him already.

Nathan smiled at Lyra and scooped her up in his arms. The toddler beamed, wrapping her arms around his head and laughing. He played with her for a while, and we approached the ice-cream stalls.

We got our ice-cream and ate it gleefully. Lyra was giggling, putting her ice cream on Nathan's nose. I chuckled as Nathan scrunched up his nose, wiping off the ice cream with the back of his hand.

I finished my ice-cream soon and took a sip of water. Luke was talking to Sav, twirling his football in his other hand. Nathan was still eating his ice-cream, carrying Lyra in his free arm. She was nibbling on her ice-cream when suddenly, it fell down.

"Oh, no..." Nathan said, looking at Lyra's little face. Her eyes began to water and she pouted, before breaking into tears.

"Come here, baby." I walked to her and took her from Nathan, who tried to calm her down but couldn't.

"Aww, its okay, shh." I cooed, trying to stop Lyra from crying. I placed a little kiss on her head and she hugged my neck, resting her tiny head on my shoulder. She was still sniffling. Nathan looked a little sad, honestly, watching Lyra's crying. Gosh, he looked so adorable, I wanted to hug him so bad.

Lyra quietened down.

"She's asleep." Nathan came closer and told me in a low voice.

"Oh... we better get home then. I guess we can call it a day." I looked at the time on my phone. 5:45 pm.

I didn't want Nathan to go, honestly. I wanted to spend my whole day just being in his presence, but that didn't seem very likely.
He probably doesn't even want to spend all his time with me... I'm sure he has better people to be with.

Negative Hanna always finds her way into my thoughts, doesn't she?

I sighed, flicking my hair away from my face. My right arm was starting to hurt from holding Lyra, so I carefully shifted her over to my left. Nathan was watching me intently with a small smile, and that was enough to make my heart speed up.

"Nathan! We're going home." Julia, his mom called out. My face fell, but I tried not to show it.
"Coming." He replied to his mom and turned to me.

"I guess I'll see you at school." He said, running his hand through his hair.

"Mhm." I nodded.

"Bye." He gave me a smile which I returned.

I lifted my arm to wave goodbye at him, when he suddenly pulled me into a hug, taking me by surprise.

"Oh-" I awkwardly hugged him back with one arm, as I was holding Lyra. But that didn't stop me from blushing like crazy against his shoulder.

He gave me one more handsome smile, and I found myself stupidly gazing into his eyes. To my disappointment, Nathan turned on his heel and walked to his mom. She was watching us while waiting for him, smiling ever so slightly.

I sighed, looking up at the darkening blue of the sky, as night was beginning to fall. With my heartbeat wild and an unmoving smile on my face, I went over to my family and prepared to go home.

It was a good day.